Online bargain shopping sites are all over, but they all offer something a little different. Today we’re taking a look at The Barganist, yet another bargain shopping site. They managed to make PC Magazine’s list of the top 100 undiscovered sites this year, so I thought they were worth taking a look at. Can The Bargainist compare to some of the other great bargain sites out there? Let’s find out…

— About The Bargainist–

The Bargainist launched appropriately right before Black Friday last year, the biggest shopping day in the United States. It’s the perfect tool for the bargain-hunter with deals posted among a variety of different products multiple times throughout the day. For each bargain that’s listed, there’s a short description about it, the coupon code if necessary, and the link to the product.

— Ways to keep up with the bargains–

Because they update the site multiple times throughout the day with great deals, many people check-in a few times a day. Of course you can manually visit the site to keep up with the bargains, but there are a couple of other ways as well.

Subscribe to their RSS feed – Every time The Bargainist posts a new deal, you’ll be able to view it in your feed reader. It has all the details right there including the ending date of the deal.

Email Newsletter – If you’d like all of the latest deals to come to you, just subscribe to the email newsletter. Each morning you’ll get an email with what’s going on and the deals you can find.

Twitter – The Bargainist is on Twitter! You can follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bargainist. It appears as though they post some of the deals that you can find on the site, on Twitter.

— What you can find–

The site is broken down into five main categories. They include deals, coupons, tips, freebies, and stores. The deals page is the main page where you’ll see everything that they’ve posted starting with the most recent deal. They also have different sections that you can search like automotive, computers, jewelry, and more.

Under the coupons section, you’ll see all of the deals that require a coupon and have a coupon code. As mentioned, the coupon code is included as well as the expiration date. They provide the link to the deal so that it’s a one click process.

If you’re wanting a tip on how to save money on your next vehicle, or ways to save money on entertainment, you’ll want to check out the ‘Tips’ section. They’ve got all kinds of great tips like “how to buy an iPod for cheap,” or “How to use Craigslist to find great bargains,” or “12 cheap alternatives to fast food.

Another great category is the “freebies” section where you’ll find stuff for free. This includes samples you can get in the mail, and just about any other free deal. One of the more recent “Freebies” that was posted was to get a free $100 gift card with the purchase of a Dyson Vacuum at Wal-Mart.

Not every deal will appeal to you, and this is why the “Stores” section is great. As you might imagine, the stores section is broken down into stores so that you can see what each store is offering. There’s a decent amount of stores available like Best Buy, Amazon, Apple Store, American Eagle, etc.

— Send them deals–

While The Bargainist may not be user-based, they do allow you to send them deals. If you happen to come across an awesome deal, you can just send them an email. If it’s good enough, they’ll share it with their readers.

— The Bargainist compared to others–

I know that you’re probably thinking that The Bargainist is nothing new, and you’re right, it’s not. There are SO many different deal sites out there like SlickDeals.net, FatWallet, DealsPlus, DealCatcher, DealHack, and more. Some of these sites are user-based and rely solely on the community to submit the deals. The Bargainist doesn’t. This factor is probably one of the biggest downsides. As far as looks go, The Bargainist has a great interface and is easy to use. Unfortunately though, they’re missing the community that really makes some of the other online bargain shopping sites great.

— Wrapping it up–

With plenty of ways to stay connected with The Bargainist, it might be hard to turn a bargain down which is when the site can start to cause you problems. Just be sure not to buy anything unless you absolutely need it, and this site should prove useful.

Did The Bargainist deserve to be on PC Magazine’s list of the top 100 undiscovered sites? My verdict is yes. While it certainly doesn’t replace some of my favorite bargain sites, it is a good addition to my list.